


Dark Horse

by Trixie_Baggins



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, Role Reversal, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 19:41:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5678224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trixie_Baggins/pseuds/Trixie_Baggins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>So you wanna play with magic?</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Boy you should know what you're falling for</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Baby do you dare to do this?</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This explores what might've happened if Rey and Kylo Ren's roles were reversed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dark Horse

 

 

She was everything he should not desire. She was uncontrolled power. She was death, and darkness and fear. But he did. He needed her most of all. He was everything she should not desire. He was light, and goodness, and love. But she did. She needed him most of all.

 

Ever since that first time he saw her, Rey had been in his thoughts and dreams. It was interfering with his studies. Master Luke knew something was bothering him, but not exactly what. He looked forward to nights, but he also dreaded them because she would come to him. She would entice him with promises of the Dark Side, with promises of her love and devotion. And he would want to give in, but he knew that he should not. He also knew, however, that there was a time coming when Rey would offer him everything he ever wanted, and he would accept. Because the only thing he wanted was her.

 

Rey relished in the time she spent walking among his dreams. He was so innocent. He was hopeful, looking to a future filled with peace and learning, not the war-torn universe in her own head. If she redid it, if there was reason for her to stay on the light side instead of the Dark, it would have been Ben Solo. She hated what he did to her, but she loved his soul. Some times Rey hoped that it would have been enough, his love. But then she remembered what she had done, the people she had hurt, and knew there was no going back now.

 

Sometimes Ben wished that he could save her. That his love would be enough, but he knew that she would never think so. A Sith was used to power. They were used to control, and to come home, she would be giving up both of those. And so he made peace with the fact that the only time he would see her was when he slept.

 

He remembered her from when they were kids. They had practically grown up together, her parents choosing to abandon her and his family taking her in. She had always loathed them for that, for that simple act of charity. She knew that she was stronger than that. She was better than that. Rey did not need handouts from anyone. She was independent and self-supporting. And yet she knew, if he offered, she would accept. Because Ben Solo was the exception.

 

_'Come back,' he pleaded in one of his dreams._

 

_'I can't._

 

_'Yes, you can.'_

 

_'There is no going back to them. Not from what I've done.'_

 

_'Not to them. To me.'_

 

_'I want to, but I must finish this. I have an impossible dream to make possible.'_

 

_'I miss you.'_

 

_'I know.'_

 

_'Give up this pointless dream, Rey. Come home.'_

 

Ben woke up before she answered. They were his dreams, but it seemed like every time he was in one, he had less control over it.

 

Luke Skywalker was technically retired. He had taken Ben on as a padawan because his sister asked him to, but he never came out of retirement to do so. This meant that when Luke could no longer teach Ben, and he became a Master, he was the last of the Jedi Knights. It was strange to think about. For as long, if not longer, than humanity could remember, the Jedi Knights had always been there. And now, here Ben was, the last of his kind.

 

There was a prophecy about this. It was foretold that on the field of battle, the last of the Jedi Knights and the first of the Knights of Ren would fight, and one would destroy the other. It never described who destroyed whom, but Ben had been raised to expect the worst. So when the word came to him that the First Order's forces, including the lovely Rey were marching on the Resistance base, he had no promises of coming back. Ben had made peace with this, though. If he was going to die, he'd decided, it would be at her hands.

 

This was it. The battle had been hard fought by both sides. The death counts were enormous, but in the end it had been a draw. So here they were, about to see history being made and a prophecy fulfilled. The Knight of Ren, the first of them, and the last, was facing against the last of the Jedi Knights. Rey versus Ben. They knew in the back of their minds somewhere, that this was bound to happen, but it didn't make it easier.

 

'You don't have to do this,' he called to her as they circled each other.

 

'I don't think you understand. I do.'

 

'No, you don't. You can always come home. There will always be a place for you.'

 

'I have no home.'

 

Rey attacked, but Ben was too far into her mind, and he knew exactly when and how she was going to. He dodged the main force of the blow, and parried the rest of it. Rey re-collected herself. She needed him out of her head if she was going to win this fight. She charged again, and again; always as strong, always as unpredictable. Each blow she rained down upon him was fire and death, but he managed to dodge and parry each blow. It was becoming frustrating, this constant, yet one-sided fight. Still Ben refused to counter-attack.

 

And then he did. Right when she was beginning to tire, to readjust. When her guard was down and her side was weak, he attacked. He stood over her, lightsaber poised. It would be easy to just strike and kill her. End this all right now. But he couldn't. Because he looked into Rey's eyes and he saw what he might have been. He saw what he might have turned into if his parents hadn't been so understanding, if his Uncle Luke hadn't been such a good teacher.

 

'I'm not going to kill you,' he said at last, turning his weapon off. 'I never could.'

 

He turned to leave, but still Rey remained motionless on the ground. 'But remember,' he added turning back towards her, 'if you want to come back, you'll always be welcome. As long as I'm alive, you can make what I call home, yours.'

 

She didn't say anything, and eventually he walked off. Both sides had a lot of work to do. The wounded to be cared for, the dead's memorial planned, the families contacted. This would take the rest of this week, and most of the next. Time passed slowly for Ben. No longer did Rey visit him in his dreams, though he wished she would. His mind still wandered to her, sometimes. Her, and the amazing beauty that she had. The power that radiated off her- dark, but in a brilliant light kind of way.

 

And then the day came. It was a few months after that battle, and Ben had heard nothing. They were just sitting down to dinner, him, his parents, and Luke, when there was a timid knock at the door. Ben rose to answered it, and was shocked to find Rey standing there. Her clothes were ragged and torn, she looked tired, like she hadn't slept in weeks, and across her face there was a jagged scar.

 

'You said I could call whatever you did home, right?'

 

'Yes.'

 

'That offer still stand?'

 

'Always.'

 

There was a prophecy. It was foretold that the last of the Jedi Knights and the first of the Knights of Ren would meet on the field of battle and one would destroy the other. Some might think this is not what happened, but this is exactly what happened. Ben and Rey met on a battlefield, and he destroyed her. He took apart everything she knew, everything she stood for, everything she believed. He destroyed who she was as a person, as a warrior. But the story doesn't end there. Although Ben destroyed everything that Rey knew, he helped her put herself back together. Not the way he wanted her to, nor even the way she wanted to be, but the way she should be.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So I was supposed to leave for work like ten minutes ago and I'm still in pajamas, but I really wanted to get this up. So if you see any kind of typos, let me know in the comments, please!


End file.
